Roque claims protest action fails to disrupt reception in New York

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. MALACAÑANG file photo / KING RODRIGUEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday claimed that protesters in the reception he attended in New York failed to interrupt the event.

Roque is in the United States for the United Nations (UN) International Law Week.

Several Filipino-American protesters gathered at the Aretsky’s Patroon restaurant, where Roque was in, to express opposition to his nomination to the UN International Law Commission (ILC), citing his reported role in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs that is under probe by the International Criminal Court.

“They were not able to enter the venue of the cocktail. They were able to enter the first floor of the restaurant but the venue of the cocktail was at the third floor,” Roque said on ANC’s Headstart.

“So, although, it was the intention of the protesters to disrupt — as in fact, even before they stage the protest they already had a press statement saying that they disrupted it — they failed to do so because the restaurant owners, the waiters, and NYPD who knew I was there, prevented the protesters from actually interrupting the reception,” he added.

While the Philippine government nominated Roque in the ILC, he assured that the sentiments of other Filipinos who are against his nomination were heard.

“They have been bombarding the email accounts of the embassies and they tell me that they have gotten thousands and thousands of exactly the same letters and of course, they view them as spam. Because, how can you have a genuine campaign if it’s all spam-like communication? So, they have been heard, I can assure you,” the spokesman said.

Roque also noted that the reception, which had diverse attendees including representatives of several foreign missions, cost less than P1 million.

“I can assure you it is nowhere close to the amount of that the claim of P1 million. I can assure you that if it were P1 million, I will be the one to object to it. It was a very modest cocktail party because it’s the cheapest way to have people come to your functions and we are very proud that the general feedback is our reception was generally, not only well-attended, but it has the most diverse attendees coming from all continents of the world,” he explained.

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